Improvement in fastenings for shoulder-straps



' the wearer.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

BENJAMIN GRIFFIN DARNEY, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN FASTENINGS FOR SHOULDER-STRAPS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 33,925, dated December 17,1861.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, BENJAMIN GRIFFIN BAR- NEY, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, have invented a new and Improved Fastening for Ofcers Shoulder-Straps; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the` same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

My invention consists in securing to the under side of ashoulder-strap certain proj ectin g lips adapted to strips of met-al or other equivalent material attached to the shoulder of the coat, the whole being constructed and arranged, substantially as described hereinafter, so as to enable the wearer to readily detach his straps from and connect them to his coat in the manner described hereinafter.

In order to enable others to make and use my invention, I will now proceed to describe the manner in which it is constructed and applied.

On reference to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specication, Figures 1 and 2 are sectional views illustrating my improved fastening for shoulderstraps; Fig. 3, an inverted plan View of the strap in perspective; and Fig. 4, a transverse section on the line l 2, Fig. 1.

A is the shoulder-strap having an edging Ct of gilt embroidery, or, to represent the latter, an edging of embossed metal, within which isv the usual colored fabric, and on the latter the device or badge 5r, indicating the rank of To the under side of the strap is secured by riveting or otherwise a thin plate B, of Inetal or other suitable material, on which are formed four projecting springs or lips c e and e e', two near one end of the plate and two near the opposite end of the same, the lips being in the present instance formed by simply cuttingthem from the body of the plate and forcing the cut portions therefrom and so bending these portions that they will assume the form and relative position illustrated by the perspective View, Fig. 3.

On the shoulder E of the coat are permanently stitched or otherwise secured the strips of metal or other suitable material D and D', the form of which will be best observed on reference to Fig. 4, the strips when thus secured to the fabric forming with the latter two staples d and d for receiving two of the projecting lips.

When the shoulder-strap has to be secured to the coat, the cloth of the latter between the two strips D and D is drawn together and puckered, as seen in Fig. 2, thereby bringing the strips so near to each other that they will pass into the space between the ends of the opposite projecting lips e e and e e after which the strips are drawn apart from each other, thereby removing the puckers of the fabric and causing the lips e e to enter the staples d d of one of the strips D and the lips e e to enter the staples of the other strip. The strap is now secured firmly to the coat, from which it can have no tendency to become detached, as the shoulder of the wearer maintains the fabric tight and prevents a Sufficient approach of the strips D and D toward each other to allow the lips to escape from the staples until by again puckering the fabric the strips may bebrought so close together as to disconnect the lips therefrom.

In wearing overcoats the shoulder-straps of officers are apt to become displaced, Worn, and otherwise deteriorated so rapidly that it becomes necessary to repeatedly replace them with new ones. It will be evident that the above-described fastening affords an officer every facility of detaching his shoulder-straps and placing them in his pocket when he desires to wear his overcoat and that when he removes the latter he can reattach them to the shoulder of his coat.

I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent- The projecting lips e and ef on the under side of the shoulder-strap A, in combination with the strips D and D', attached to the shoulder of the coat, the whole being constructed and arranged, substantially as set forth, for the ready attachment of the strap to and its ready detachment from the coat, in the manner specified.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

BENJAMIN GRIFFIN DARNEY.

Witnesses HENRY HowsoN, C. HowsoN. 

